We’re thrilled to be able to introduce a very special guest. His name is Rick Murcer and he is a USA Today and New York Times Bestselling thriller author. We carried out an exclusive interview with Rick. Continue reading to discover what Rick told us about how he got into writing, and about his famous Manny Williams series of books. We also got some details from Rick about his latest works entitled Drop Dead Perfect, and his future stories.
Welcome to e-Books India, Rick! We’re very happy to have you join us for this interview! Can you start off by telling us about your background? Where are you from? The story about how you became an author is very interesting. Can you please tell us more?
Thank you so much for having me, I’m honoured and pleased.
I’m from a small town in Michigan, Ithaca to be exact. I’ve been in Michigan most of my life except for 18 months in California. I currently live in the Lansing, Michigan.
As my Author Central profile indicates, I started late in the writing game. I’d finished my degree at Michigan State and ran a few companies, including one of my own and had settled with a company as a vice president servicing mortgage loans. I thought I’d be there until I retired. Even though I’d written a horror short story a few years prior that, which was published by Writers Journal called Herb’s Home Run, I never expected writing to go where it has. Well, life never seems to go as we expect, especially if we desire to do something different. My dad passed away in 2008 and after some issues at work, I quit…no, I basically did what many of us desire to do at some point. I told him to shove his job, in a nice way, of course. 🙂 I had already written the basic draft for Caribbean Moon so after taking another year off, I went to work on it, with my wife’s help, and published it on March 30, 2011…by July we’d reached Amazon’s top 100, eventually making number 2. Incredibly, Deceitful Moon, the 2nd Manny Williams Thriller, reached number 8 at the same time. We also made the USA Today top 10 and the NY Times best seller list. We’re still pinching ourselves. Here’s the real interesting part that most people don’t know. I wrote the first book as a challenge to my wife who was writing one based on an incident in our family’s past. I thought she was moving too slowly. She said if I thought it was so easy, go ahead and do it. 11 books later I guess we figured it out!
What types of books do you write?
I write thrillers with a police procedural slant that feature demented serial killers. The books have an occasional pointed scene. I studied abnormal psych in my first college go-around and love the forensic arena so we have science and Manny Williams is a gifted profiler…plus he’s pretty good looking. 🙂
You’re the author of the bestselling Manny Williams series of books. Can you please tell us a bit about the concept for this series? How did you come up with the idea for it?
I read a ton and one thing I had noticed is that there are so many featured cops in the crime/thriller genre that are broken morally, spiritually, and weren’t really nice people at all. That’s okay for sure, but I wanted something different. Manny is a broken cop in that he’s a workaholic and wants to save the world. But he’s a great family man, cares for the people that work with him and would die for them, and believes in doing the right thing. He’s also an incredible profiler… With his blonde hair, blue eyes, and being in great shape, he’s been called a hot boy scout.
One of your most recent books is entitled Drop Dead Perfect. Can you please tell us a bit about this story?
This is a different series. Ellen Harper is a Chicago CSI who has anger issues with the way her husband left her. She struggles through those, getting into trouble more than once with Big Harv her boss and father, while helping to solve a case that has more than one victim featuring a killer who is off his rocker, to say the least. There’s great chemistry between the characters and I loved writing this one. It’s more of a psycho-thriller.
Are you working on any other books(s)? If so, can you please tell us what we can expect to see from you in the future?
Yes! Addicted to writing, I surely am. I have a short story coming out next week featuring Manny and Sophie Lee, Manny’s not-politically-correct partner and the first case they worked, called The First One. The ninth Manny Thriller, Cajun Fire will be out in January or February and Perfect Sinners, the second Ellen Harper book will be out in the spring, depending on Thomas and Mercer’s plans. I have another that I’m contemplating, a ghost story based in Jamaica, but we’ll see about that in 2016.
What other things do you like to get up to when you’re not writing?
I play golf, softball, read, spend time with my grandkids, walk a lot and get a kick out of my two dogs, Braxton and Beaux. And, spend time with my beautiful wife of 42 years!
From your experiences as an author, could you please share 2-3 top tips to help beginner authors who dream of getting their work published?
I’d say two things for sure.
1) Be true to you muse. It can be an awkward situation when you turn the story loose, at first but it’s the only way it works. Trust it. Let it fly!
2) I can’t emphasize enough how important honest feedback is. Seek it and listen to it without changing your voice. Along with that, get a great editor, and yes, pay for one, because you only get once chance to make a first impression…I’d also say to make sure of your goals before you write. Know why you do what you do and how the business end works. Important. Important. Important!
How can people find out more about you?
You can visit my website at www.rickmurcer.com or email me at rickmurcer@gmail.com. I answer all emails to the best of my ability.
Thank you so much for speaking with me, it’s always fun to get to do these gigs and I love to let people know that all things are possible with dome hard work and God’s guidance.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]